The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana The Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana ( la, Dioecesis Lafayettensis in Indiana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in central Indianain the United States. The current bishop is Timothy L. Doherty. The D ...

. It is located at 1207 Columbia Street in

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. It is also a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

in the St. Mary Historic District.

History

The congregation began in 1843 when a small group of Irish Catholic families in the area met for Mass in rented space. By the following year, they raised enough money to construct their own building. The brick ''Church of Sts. Mary and Martha'' stood at the intersection of Fifth and Brown Streets and was completed in 1846. In 1850, a school was constructed on adjacent land which came under the administration of the

Oblate Sisters of Providence The Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) is a Roman Catholic women's religious institute, founded by Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP, and Rev. James Nicholas Joubert, SS in 1828 in Baltimore, Maryland for the education of girls of African des ...

in 1858. In 1860, parishioner Lawrence Stockton donated a plot of land on Columbia Street to the Reverend Edmund Kilroy for construction of a church, rectory, and school. Preliminary work began shortly thereafter, but stopped when the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

began in April 1861. The Reverend George Hamilton replaced Father Kilroy as pastor and oversaw completion of construction. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style church was dedicated August 15, 1866. The central tower rises to a height of . The interior is divided into three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s by columns. The

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s and the

stained glass window Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

s were installed in 1887. The exterior was originally brick, but it was covered in 1904 with concrete to resemble stone. That same year, the front staircase and the

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

were also completed. In 1944, the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana was created by dividing the Diocese of Fort Wayne and St. Mary's Church was chosen as the cathedral for the new diocese. The cathedral has undergone a number of changes including an interior redecoration and addition of a social hall in 2001.

References

External links

Cathedral WebsiteDiocese of Lafayette in Indiana WebsiteInterior photo of Saint Mary
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana, state=collapsed Religious organizations established in 1843 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1866 History of Catholicism in Indiana Churches in Lafayette, Indiana Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Cathedral of Saint Tourist attractions in Tippecanoe County, Indiana Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana Gothic Revival church buildings in Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Tippecanoe County, Indiana Historic district contributing properties in Indiana 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

History

See also

References

External links